Brookfield teacher accused of affair with student, 17

Police investigating alleged relationship; teacher on leave

May 21, 2013

BROOKFIELD - A high school teacher here is on leave while police investigate allegations that he may have had a romantic relationship with a teenage student.

Police are not releasing the teacher's name because he has not been charged.

However, he could face sexual battery charges if police deem the allegations against him have merit, explained Brookfield police Chief Dan Faustino.

"At this point it's an investigation," Faustino said. "We really haven't had a chance to sort everything out at this point and see whether the allegations are true."

Allegations claim the relationship started in April 2012 when the student was 17 and lasted at least a year. The student turned 18 last month, according to police.

Faustino said the alleged relationship was reported to his department by a third party on May 7.

On May 6, the teacher was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, confirmed Brookfield Schools Superintendent Tim Saxton.

The district hasn't taken any other action, he said.

Saxton said school officials are waiting for the outcome of the police investigation.

"We haven't done anything because the police are investigating it, and what the school district does or doesn't do will depend on the outcome of that," Saxton said.

He said there have been no other allegations made against the teacher in the past at Brookfield. Likewise, the district has not received any past reports about or from the student, he added.

"We haven't had any problems with either of them," he said.

The school district has had to address similar allegations in the past.

In July 2011, Frank Kratko Jr., a township resident and former Brookfield substitute teacher, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 180 days of house arrest after pleading guilty to having sex with a male teenager more than five years prior. He was 69 and the former student was 21 at the time of sentencing.

In April 2010, George "Ted" Swogger of Hubbard, a former assistant track coach at Brookfield Middle School, pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a female student.

Swogger was put on five years' probation and ordered to serve the first 60 days of it in Trumbull County Jail. He was 25 at the time and the girl was 14.